The present disclosure relates to downhole tools and, in particular, to systems and methods of minimizing shock impacts assumed by electronics arranged within downhole tools.
Hydrocarbons are typically produced from wellbores drilled from the Earth's surface through a variety of producing and non-producing subterranean zones. The wellbore may be drilled substantially vertically or may be drilled as an offset well that has some amount of horizontal displacement from the surface entry point. A variety of servicing operations may be performed in the wellbore after it has been drilled and completed by lowering different kinds of downhole tools into the wellbore. For example, a tool string containing measuring instruments is commonly lowered into the wellbore to obtain various downhole measurements, such as bottom hole pressure and temperature. Various sampling devices are also commonly lowered into the wellbore in the tool string to obtain fluid samples at various target zones of the subterranean formation in order to determine the exact composition of the formation fluids of interest.
Such servicing operations are typically undertaken by lowering the tool string and its various downhole tools into the wellbore on a tension member conveyance, such as wireline or slickline. After the wellbore servicing operation is completed, the downhole tool is withdrawn from the wellbore and the slickline is re-coiled back onto an adjacent wire spool or drum. During its ascent to the surface, the tool string can sometimes become stuck due to differential sticking, key seating, hole sloughing, debris lodged in the wellbore, and other common wellbore conditions. In such situations, the tool string can oftentimes be freed through the application of ordinary tensile or compressive forces delivered from the surface.
In other situations, however, the tool string must be separated from the stuck portions in order to salvage the slickline and prevent costly fishing operations following a slickline cutting operation. This may be done by having a release tool installed in the tool string that may be actuated either at a predetermined time or on command from a well operator at the surface. Upon activating the release tool, the freed portions of the tool string may return to the surface while the stuck portions remain downhole. In order to extract the stuck portions, a jarring tool may be introduced into the wellbore and conveyed to the target location. The jarring tool is designed to provide a high impact jarring force to the tool string in an effort to dislodge the tool from its stuck position.
Actuation of both the separation tool and the jarring tool result in the delivery of a large amount of acceleration that translates into considerable upward rebound forces that may adversely affect internal components of each tool. For example, each tool may include internal electronics that are usually not anchored securely and therefore may be damaged by shock impacts following actuation of either tool. Therefore, it may prove useful to provide a means to minimize shock impacts to internal electronics and electrical components in separation and jarring tools.